411 Games Fact or Fiction 09.25.12: New PS3, BioWare, Killer Instinct, and More

Hello everyone and welcome to this week’s edition of Fact or Fiction. As always, I am Daniel Anderson and I am typing this on my new computer after my last one died a sudden, but horrible death. It is never fun having a hard drive die and none of the information being recoverable. Oh well, at least I was able to get the money together to get a new computer so all ended up being well. Anyway, this week we have 411’s Stephen Randle going up against Todd Vote. Let’s see what they have to say shall we?

1.) Borderlands 2 has met your expectations.

Todd Vote – Fiction: But only because I haven’t had a chance to sit down with it yet. I’m really sort of a one game at a time type of guy, if I don’t finish the game I am playing, I tend to not come back to them for a long time. Call it gamer A.D.D. Right now I have a full plate, I just got Madden ’13, and Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, just finished up Darksiders 2, plus I still have Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood on my back burner. When it came time to choose a new game, it was a real no brainer for me to put my pre-order dollars down for Resident Evil 6 over any other game this holiday season.

Stephen Randle – Fact: I didn’t have massive expectations for the game in the first place, simply because I didn’t want to overhype myself for the sequel to a game that was, by all admissions, a sleeper hit that not a lot of people saw coming. When you get something like that, often the sequel ends up poorly thought-out and rushed to cash in on the phenomenon (hello, Matrix sequels). I can say that Borderlands 2 is not one of those games, it is quality through and through, and an enjoyable game that is totally worth your money.

Score: 0 for 1 – I was hoping for an updated and polished version of Borderlands and I was not disappointed. From laughing at the humor in the story to fighting enemies and hoping for good loot drops this game stayed fun and never got boring or tedious.

2.) You are sad to hear the Baldur’s Gate remake was delayed.

Todd Vote – Fiction: Sad is not the word for it. Distraught, driven mad, pushed off the edge of sanity. These are better terms for my feelings on the delay of Baldur’s Gate. I mean, without a steady stream of shitty RPG’s releasing, what ever will I be able to complain about? In all seriousness, this is a bummer for fans of the series who were looking forward to it. I can relate.

Stephen Randle – Fact: A new, updated version of Baldur’s Gate I and II means I might finally get through the whole thing without getting frustrated and giving up roughly 6 hours in. Plus I’m not sure I could find my old discs anyway. That’s right, the resident RPG guy hasn’t finished the Baldur’s Gate series. Sue me, I had like a dozen other games to play at the time because the PS1 was in the middle of releasing six million RPG’s over its lifespan. Anyway, the delay is disappointing, but I’ll get over it because it’s not like it’s a long delay, only a month.

Score: 0 for 2 – I was really looking forward to playing an updated version of Baldur’s Gate. I enjoyed the second game (was one of the first PC games I bought) and looked forward to revisiting it along with being able to play the first one and then jump into the second. This also has me hoping for an Icewind Dale 1 and 2 remake.

3.) You think Valve will meet its goal to beta test its new hardware next year.

Todd Vote – Fact: Why not? Beta test in no way indicate a final product, so I see no reason why they wouldn’t have it ready for at least initial testing. Besides, it’s not like this is the third version of Valve’s hardware, so we really don’t have to worry about it never ever showing up, right?

Stephen Randle – Fact: Valve, like Blizzard, only gives actual dates when they can guarantee that they’ll have something on that day. If Valve says “we’ll have something next year”, they’ll have at least some sort of limited beta product. Now, if they said “we’d like to have something”, that’s totally different and I’d expect a beta roughly a couple months before the sun goes nova. But a sign that they must have something pretty far along is the fact that we know it exists at all, because they’re usually very close-mouthed about projects in development, so I’m pretty confident that there will be a beta in 2013.

Score: 1 for 3 – If this happens then I think we can put to rest the idea of this being a Valve console. Whatever Valve puts out it will probably be a well thought out piece of hardware that all people who play games on Steam will want to have.

4.) The redesigned PS3 for $269 ( including Uncharted 3) is a good deal.

Stephen Randle – Fact: If you happen to be one of the few and the sad who didn’t pick up Uncharted 3 last year, and/or don’t have a PS3, then you could do worse than get this bundle, since UC3, while not quite as good as Uncharted 2, is still a very, very good game. Of course, neither of those qualifiers are true for me, as I own both a PS3 and the game, so it’s worthless for my purposes. But it works out to twenty bucks for a AAA exclusive title that’s only a year old, so I’d call it a good deal.

Todd Vote – Fact: Hell yes it is a good deal. Especially for those who have not taken the plunge yet. My broke ass was really hoping that the new model would have led to a discounted price on the older bulkier models, but I hear that just isn’t going to happen. But still, $269 is a great value for the PS3. There are a few games that I have yet to have any extended time with, and perhaps this is just what I was waiting for. We shall see.

Score: 2 for 4 – This new deal was making me give serious thought to picking up a PS3. Then my computer died and I had to get a new one and all extra income gets to go towards that for a while.

5.) You are sad to hear BioWare’s co-founders are retiring from the industry.

Stephen Randle – Fact: Although you have to stop asking if things make me sad, I have a tough-guy image to maintain. While I don’t know how much day-to-day input they would have had at this point, losing the founders behind the company that made Knights of the Old Republic, Neverwinter Nights, and Mass Effect can’t help but make you worry about BioWare’s future. With that said, I can imagine that after a couple decades of putting out such big titles, at a certain point you might have had enough. Plus, better to go out before people discover you might have run out of ideas.

Todd Vote – Fiction: While I have been a fan of some of BioWare’s RPG’s (KOTOR), this isn’t really saddening news. Keeping things innovative in this industry is a very integral part of creating the best games for your fan base. One of the co-founders stated that his enthusiasm for games has diminished, and stated that he may never return to the industry. If those are the types of feelings they are having, then this is the absolute best time for them to step away. BioWare will keep on making decent to great games for your RPG fans. I wish these two well in whatever they decide to go on to do.

Score: 2 for 5 – I was sad to hear that because you never know if big changes at a studio can lead to games that miss the mark (Diablo 3 for example). I hope BioWare can continue putting out top quality games, but we will have to wait and see.

6.) Microsoft renewing its Killer Instinct trademark is a sign we will get some type of new game or HD remake.

Stephen Randle – Fiction: Just because I can’t let Todd be happy for a single second. Actually, I’d say it’s more likely that they’ll release the old game in some downloadable format, with a small chance they’ll both to give it an HD polish, but dream as he might, Todd will be waiting a very, very long time before he gets his grubby mitts on Killer Instinct 2. And even then, the shock will probably kill him.

Todd Vote – Fact: Dear God, I truly hope so. The fan base has been waiting, patiently for 17 years for something to happen with this franchise. December, 1995. That is the last time we were given a Killer Instinct game. With the fighting genre being given a breath of new life in the last couple of years, bringing back Killer Instinct seems like a no brainer.

Score: 2 for 6 – Somehow I knew Todd would enjoy hearing this. It would be nice to see an HD remake of Killer Instinct, and I hope it happens soon. That being said, I think it will be a while before anything comes from this renewal.

Bonus Question: I’m too wrapped up in Borderlands 2 (and cursing my computer’s sudden death) to think of another question. Talk about whatever you would like.

Stephen Randle – Well, it’s the last couple weeks of baseball season, and I can’t wait to close the doors on another disappointing year for my Jays. So much promise, so much hope, so very many injuries. But hey, I’ll be out there at Rogers Center on October 3rd, last game of the year, cheering them on one last time before winter. Game One or Game 162, true fans always show up. Here’s to an offseason full of starting pitching acquisitions!

Todd Vote – Um… Go Vikings?!

Well Todd at least the Vikings beat the 49ers (shocking the hell out of everyone that wasn’t a Viking fan), and Stephen, well there is always next year. That wraps up this week’s edition of Fact or Fiction. Stephen and Todd went 2 for 6 disagreeing about most everything (surprising no one). I hope to see everyone next week, and until then, happy gaming.